Asheville Beer Guy: Sierra Nevada invites local brewers to California

Jun. 26, 2012

Special to the Citizen-Times

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Visit CITIZEN-TIMES.com/beerguy for past columns and to explore the Asheville beer engine, a data base of brews made in Asheville and Buncombe County. Follow Beer Guy Tony Kiss on Twitter @AVLBeerguy or on Facebook at Asheville Beer Guy.

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It will be a while before we are sipping cold brew made in Western North Carolina by Sierra Nevada Brewing. But it is quickly buiding strong local connections to the community, and that will only increase in the coming months.

This week, many of Asheville’s leading brewery personalities are out in Chico, Calif., for a visit to the Sierra Nevada brewery. They’ll get a close-up, hands-on look at Sierra’s operations and what might be duplicated at that company’s Mills River brewery.

Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman rolled out the red carpet by making this adventure possible. He and his son, Brian Grossman, have been regular visitors to Asheville, before and since the company announced it was building its East Coast expansion here.

They have already become valued members of the Asheville beer family.

Ninja in a can

Asheville Brewing has found a lot of success with its canned versions of Shiva IPA and Rocket Girl ale, which are now available in a lot of spots, including area groceries.

Coming this fall is a canned version of Ninja porter, one of Asheville Brewing’s most popular beers. Look for an introduction right around the weekend of the Brewgrass festival on Sept. 16.

Also, Asheville Brewing is making more I Pity the IPA, after the debut batch sold out in about 48 hours. More District 12 wheat ale is being brewed, too. Look for both in about two weeks.